THE
2012/2013 FOOTBALL SEASON: THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE CONTENDERS
The English Premier League Contenders is an analysis of the league for the purpose of having a prediction of the teams that could make up the top 5 at the end of the season. The current campaign (2012/2013) which kicked off on Saturday, 18th August, 2012 has so far lived up to expectation with many of the dominant teams performing as expected. The Contenders in view are Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. These contenders were derived through what I called “the Contenders Rating Scale.”
*Related works -
THE 2012/13 ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE CONTENDERS RATING SCALE
THE 2012/2013 FRENCH LIGUE 1 CONTENDERS
The Contenders Rating Scale is the approach employed in having a postulation and analysis of the English Premier League season, having put into consideration the teams that had a top 5 finish in the last five years or season.
With 5 matches played and the defending Champions, Manchester City in ….. position, predicting the 2012/2013 English Premier League winner and top 5 placed teams in the league table will be a consciously executed task.
It is high time we
discussed the expectations of the 2012/2013 season, climaxing at the likely
winner and top 5 finishers.
We will kick off this
analysis with the defending champions, Manchester city.
MANCHESTER CITY
Having won the 2011/12
English Premier League season, Manchester City is the defending champions. Their
2011/12 campaign was their first title since the 1967/68 season when they
clinched their second title.
Manchester city winning
the league in the 2011/2012 season was an achievement long expected. This is
due to the September 1, 2008 “turnaround” takeover by Abu Dhabi
United Group Investment and Development Limited which got the new owners
massively investing on transfers. Since the takeover, among the many big names attracted
to the club are Sergio Aguerro, Yaya Touré, Kolo Touré, Samir Nasri, David Sliva,
Eden Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and most recently, Maicon. With the purchase of these
players, Manchester city had the English Premier League trophy lurking around
the corner.
But remarkably, Manchester
city had to wait for four years for the final minute of the last match of the
2011/2012 season to clinch their first title since the 1967/68 season as
earlier pointed.
This achieved, will
Manchester City be in the pole position to wrap up the 2012/2013 season,
perhaps in a more thrilling fashion? Time will get this question rightly
answered.
However, with 5 matches
played and 33 matches left, Manchester city is currently lying in 7th place
with 9 points.
*Facts
i. Manchester city has won the English Football
League (including the 1992 formed English
Premier League) three times.
ii. In the last 5 seasons (2007/08 - 2011/12),
Manchester city has had a top 5 finish three times.
2012/2013
MANCHSTER CITY TRANSFER LIST
IN (CLUB PURCHASED OR “LOANED”
FROM):
Maicon (Inter Milan)
Scott Sinclair (Swansea City)
Richard Wright (Preston North End)
Jack Rodwell
(Everton)
Matija Nastasic (Fiorentina)
Vlad Marin (Lazio)
Jules Olivier Nitcham (Le Havre)
OUT (CLUB
SOLD OR “LOANED” TO)
Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham)
Greg Cunningham (Bristol City, undisclosed)
Gai Assulin (Racing Santander, free)
Ahmed Benali (Brescia, free)
Andrea Mancini (Real Valladolid, free)
Omar Elabdellaoui (Feyenoord “Loan”)
Harry Bunn (Crewe, “Loan”)
Greg Cunningham
(Bristol City)
Owen Hargreaves (Released)
Stefan Savic (Fiorentina)
Nigel De Jong (Milan)
Mohammed Abu (Ravo Vallecano “Loan”)
Adam Johnson (Sunderland)
Stuart Taylor (Reading)
Vladimir Weiss (Pescara)
Roque Santa Cruz
(Malaga “Loan”)
Wayne Bridge (Brighton
& Hove “Loan”)
Entry and Exit Transfer Pick:
Maicon
The entry of the Brazil
international right back into Manchester city was a right move by the EPL defending
champions. Maicon is a defender with an eye for goal, tormenting opposing
defenders, creating chances for his team mates and making attempts on goal
himself when one least expects.
While at Inter Milan
for 6 years (2006/2007 – 2011/2012), Maicon won 4 Serie A titles, 2 Copa Italia
titles, 3 Supercoppa Italia title, and 1 UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club
World Cup titles.
With these achievements
to his credit, Maicon has a lot to offer the club because he will no doubt be
looking forward to add more trophies to his credit.
Emmanuel
Adebayor
Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor signed for Manchester City from Arsenal having
had a successful “near” three years sojourn in the London club. While in the
colours of Arsenal, Adebayor won the African footballer of the year (2008), BBC
African Footballer of the year (2007), Goal of the season (2007/2008) and goal
of the month (September 2007). No doubt, these individual feats were what got
Manchester City all out for him prior to the 2009/2010 season but getting into
the club had his expected impact on the team being an irony as it was marred by
the
arrival of Edin Dzeko, Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli.
With these three ahead
of him, his importance to Manchester City slowly got fizzled out with loan
deals to Real Madrid (January transfer window in the 2010/11 season) and
Tottenham (season long loan in the 2011/12 season) his rescue to getting
playing time.
Adebayor, though having
a premature and sad ending to his Manchester City career is a world class
striker to be feared by defenders.
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MANCHESTER CITY
Manchester United have
won the English first tier club league football title 19 times. With 19
trophies to their credit, the Red Devils have had the highest number of top
tier football titles (including the Premier League) more than any other team.
Prior to the
consistency of Manchester United, Liverpool was the most successful club in
England with 18 trophies and interestingly, as at when Liverpool had its 18th trophy
in the 1989/90 season, Manchester United had just 7 trophies, the last being in
the 1966/67 season.
But that is history now
as Manchester United has had an unprecedented level of consistency that has had
them winning 12 trophies in the last 22 years. Manchester United matched and
surpassed the achievement of Liverpool in the 2008/09 and 2010/2011 seasons
respectively with its 18th and 19th title.
With these
unprecedented achievements by the Red devils, they are surely among the
forerunner Contenders for the 2012/13 football year.
Manchester United is
presently placed in 2nd position with 12 points in 5 matches.
*Facts
i. Manchester United have won the English
Football League (including the 1992 formed English Premier League) 19 times.
ii. In the last 5 seasons (2007/08 -
2011/12), Manchester United has had a top 5 finish 5 times.
2012/2013
MANCHSTER UNITED TRANSFER LIST…
IN (CLUB PURCHASED OR
“LOANED” FROM):
Robin van Persie (Arsenal)
Á. Henríquez (U de Chile)
Alexander Büttner (Vitesse)
Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund)
Nick Powell (Crewe)
OUT (CLUB
SOLD OR “LOANED” TO)
Tomasz Kuszczak
(Brighton, free)
Michael Owen (Stoke
city)
Fabio da Silva (QPR
“Loan”)
Park Ji-sung (QPR)
Ben Amos (Hull City
“Loan”)
Paul Pogba (Juventus)
Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham)
Entry and Exit Transfer Pick:
Robin
Van Persie
RVP as he is fondly
called is currently undoubtedly the best striker in England. This feat was
marked by his achievement in the 2011/12 season in which he scored 30 goals in
37 matches. Prior to the aforementioned season, precisely from January of the
2010/2011 season to the season end, he scored 18 goals in 19 league matches, a
record that is simply phenomenon.
According to Wikipedia,
in his 194 league matches in the colours of Arsenal, he had 96 goals to his
credit. With five matches played in the 2012/13 English Premier League season,
he has scored 5 goals in 5 matches.
The former Arsenal
captain has proven to have the right pedigree to get Manchester United more
goals, perhaps in their history. Also, the addition of Robin Van Persie to the
crew of Manchester United “lethal” strike forces that comprise,
Wayne Rooney, J. Hernandez and D. Welbeck to mention 3 has got the Red devils
winning the 2012/13 EPL a possibility not to be dismissed.
Dimitar
Berbatov
Prior to joining
Manchester United in the 2008/2009 season, Dimitar Berbatov had a successful
transient in Tottenham Hotspur. His eye for terrific passes and sublime ball
control are perhaps what got Sir Alex Ferguson persistent in bringing him to
old Trafford, a persistence that scaled through before the start of the
2008/2009 season which had Manchester United purchasing him for a whooping £30
million by Manchester United.
No doubt, this was a
sale well executed by Tottenham. According to Wikipedia.com, Tottenham bought
Berbatov from Bayern Leverkusen for £10.9million which then made him the most
expensive Bulgarian footballer ever.
In the 2010/11 season,
Berbatov scored 20 league goals in 32 matches and in the 2011/2012 season, he
found the back of the net 7 times in 12 matches. If I am to score him, I will
score him “A”.
Due to his dwindling
matches in the league, notably in the 2011/12 season, Berbatov was widely seen
to be unsettled in Manchester United and his eventual sale to Fulham was no
surprise.
Now in the colors of
Fulham, the Bulgarian international has scored 2 goals in 2 matches. Will
Manchester United miss his contribution, I will say no because Robin Van Persie
is perhaps a sublime replacement.
CHELSEA F.C.
The Blues as Chelsea
F.C. is fondly called is owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Since
his acquisition of the club in June 2003, hundreds of millions of pounds has
been spent on inbound transfers. In his 9 years as Chelsea owner, the London
club has won the English Premier League 3 times. The first time Chelsea won the domestic
league title was in the 1954–55 but they had to wait till the 2004–05 season to
win their second league title, an achievement that was met by the massive
investment of Abramovich. Since the Abrahimovich era, among the big names to
have once upon a time worn the Chelsea colours are Didier Drogba, Solomon Kalou
and most recently Raul Meireles.
In the Premier League
table, Chelsea is placed in 1st position with 13 points from 5 matches.
The last time Chelsea
won the English Premier League trophy was the 2009–10 season.
*Facts
i. Chelsea has won the English Football
League (including the 1992 formed English Premier
League) 4 times.
ii. In the last 5 seasons (2007/08 - 2011/12),
Chelsea has had a top 5 finish 4 times.
2012/2013
CHELSEA TRANSFER LIST…
IN (CLUB PURCHASED OR
“LOANED” FROM):
Cesar Azpilicueta
(Marseille)
Victor Moses (Wigan)
Eden Hazard (Lille)
Oscar (Internacional)
Thorgan Hazard (Lens)
OUT (CLUB
SOLD OR “LOANED” TO)
Raul Meireles (Fenerbahce)
Michael Essien (Real Madrid)
Nathaniel Chalobah
(Watford “Loan”)
Thorgan Hazard (Zulte – Waregem “Loan”)
Sam Hutchinson (Nottingham Forest “Loan”)
Kevin De Bruyne (Wetder Bremen “Loan”)
Marko Mitrovic (Brescia)
Salomon Kalou (Lille)
Entry and Exit Transfer Pick:
Eden
HAZARD
At 21 years old, Eden
has established himself as a footballer to be reckoned with. Having had a
successful career kick off with Lille, his progressive impact on Chelsea is one
not to be overlooked.
In the 2010/2011 Ligue 1
Triumph of Lille, Eden was instrumental to the aforesaid successful year being
history which was complemented with him adjudged to be the UNFP Ligue 1 player
of the year, an award he won at just 20 years old which further got him being the
youngest player to win the award.
Due to the consistency
in his progressive performance, Eden retained the individual award in the
following season, precisely the 2011/2012. Prequel to winning the UNFP Ligue 1 player
of the year award, he was in the 2008/09 and 2009/2010 season awarded the UNFP
Ligue 1 young player of the year.
The versatile
midfielder no doubt is a talent any club will wish to have, which primarily
accounts for why Chelsea quickly swooped on pouching him to Stanford Bridge.
So far in 5 English
Premier League matches played, Eden has had a goal for Chelsea, and caused 2
penalties and made for assists.
Didier Drogba
According to Wikipedia,
Didier Drogba moved from Marseille to Chelsea for a club record
£24 million fee, making him the most expensive Ivorian player in history. This
move was prior to the commencement of the 2004/05 season. Having completed his
move to Stanford Bridge, his impact was immediate as he was very instrumental
to Chelsea winning their first league title in 50 years. In his debut season,
he scored 10 league goals in 26 league matches. But most notably is the
2009/2010 season when he beat the goal post 29 times in 32 games. This feat was
complemented with Chelsea clinching their 4th league title and Drogba clinching
his 3rd with the London club.
Moreover, in 226
Premier League matches, spanning 8 years for Chelsea, Didier Drogba scored 100
goals and had 54 assists.
No doubt, Drogba efficiently
paid his dues to Chelsea and he is a player to be greatly missed by Chelsea
which in my opinion makes him a deserved Chelsea legend sooner or later.
ARSENAL
The 13 times English
league winners have in the last 8 years had a trophy drought as far as the
English Premier League is concerned. Of the 13 English League titles won, 3
have been with the FA Premier League that was formed on 20 February 1992.
Just like the Liverpool
fans, the Arsenal fans have also exercised an admirable level of patience and followership
of the London club. Every year since the last trophy won by Arsenal in the
2004/2005 F.A. Cup victory of the club, Arsenal has failed to produce the
result for the trophy when it mattered most. Arsenal last won the E.P.L. title
in the 2003/2004 season, a season of the invincible gunners when they had an
unprecedented 49 game unbeaten run.
Irrespective of Arsenal
selling its best players like Cesc Fabregas, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and
most recently, Robin Van Persie and Alex Song, the gunners have proved critics
wrong that they are team to never rule out for a top 4 finish with an eye of the
trophy.
However, unlike
previous years when Arsenal was known to have a replacement not as strong as
the exiting players, the 2012/2013 season is disparate as the gaffer, Arsene
Wenger made very significant signings and replacement.
From the moment I heard
of the signings, I knew this will be a glorious year for Arsenal as they will
have their best performance in a very long time.
In a similar vein, according
to ESPNFC,
the special one, Jose Mourinho in an interview with Sky Sports News had this to
say of Arsene’s current Arsenal squad; “I like this Arsenal team, I like the
way Arsene is building the team, I think they can be a positive surprise. I
like this team more than the previous season.”
Arsenal have so far
gotten 9 points in 5 matches and are presently placed in 5th position. With 33
matches left to play, the gunners will be a silent trophy contender.
*Facts
i. Arsenal have won the English Football
League (including the 1992 formed English Premier
League) 13 times.
ii. In the last 5 seasons (2008/09 -
2011/12), Arsenal have had a top 5 finish twice 5 times.
2012/2013
ARSENAL TRANSFER LIST…
IN (CLUB PURCHASED OR
“LOANED” FROM):
Santi Cazorla (Malaga)
Lukas Podolski (Köln)
Olivier Giroud
(Montpellier)
OUT (CLUB
SOLD OR “LOANED” TO)
Nicklas Bendtner (Juventus)
Alex Song
(Barcelona)
Robin van Persie (Manchester United)
Kyle Bartley (Swansea City)
Ryo Miyaichi
(Wigan “Loan”)
Carlos Vela (Sociedad)
Denilson (Sao Paulo)
Entry and Exit Transfer Pick:
Santi Cazorla
Santi Cazorla is a
Spanish international with magnificent ability to add life to a team when his
teammates fill dead. This is evident in his ability to change the tempo and
flow of a game to the advantage of his team.
Prior to joining
Arsenal, Santi played for Malaga, Villarreal and Recreativo de Huelva. He is a versatile
attacking midfielder with an adaptable ability to play on both flanks. Santi
Cazorla is also an impactful and successful player at the International stage,
winning the 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Championship with the invincible Spanish
National team.
In 2007, Santi Cazorla
was the Sapnish Player of the Year. With a remarkable team work approach to the
game and his assiduousness for the good of the team, the acquisition of Santi
Cazorla by Arsenal will be greatly contributory to Arsenal having a much better
season than they have had in the last 8 years.
So far, Santi has had a
tremendous impact in all 5 league matches played for Arsenal and this no doubt entails
little drops of performance from the Spaniard to make an unprecedented mighty
ocean of impact on the London team with the EPL trophy the ultimate.
Robin Van Persie
The exit of Robin Van
Persie (RVP) from Arsenal to Manchester United is a move that got many Arsenal
fans brokenhearted. This was no surprise as RVP had a successful 2011/2012
season with the gunners and seeing their best asset leave to rivals Manchester
United was highly unbearable. But with the acquisition of Santi Cazorla, Lukas
Podolski and Olivier Giroud from Malaga, Köln and Montpellier respectively, the
exit of RVP is not expected to be a big blow to the performance of Arsenal in
the current campaign and beyond.
So far without Robin
Van Persie, Arsenal has had a much better start in the current campaign than
they did in the previous season when he captained the London club to a third
place finish in the Premier League.
LIVERPOOL F.C
With 18 league titles,
the reds as Liverpool is popular called were once upon a time the most
successful club in English football. This was abruptly put to history in the
2010/2011 season when Manchester United clinched their 19th league title,
surpassing the league title achievement of Liverpool by 1 title.
Noteworthy, the last
time Liverpool won a league title was the 1989/1990 season. Due to it being a
very long time ago since Liverpool won a league title, their fans have never
undermined their love for the club and have so far not left the club alone sealing
the fact that Liverpool are known to never walk alone.
With it being 22 years
since Liverpool last won the league, the 2012/2013 season is another year of
Liverpool fans getting their fingers crossed, hoping for the title they have so
much missed and longed for to finally land in the club.
At this juncture, the
million dollar question is will Liverpool win the 2012/2013 campaign? May 19,
2013 will get the question answered.
In 5 matches placed so
far in the 2012/2013 English Premier League season, Liverpool has 2 points and is
currently in 18th position.
*Facts
i. Liverpool has won the English Football
League (including the 1992 formed English
Premier League) 18 times.
ii. In the last 5 seasons (2007/08 -
2011/12), Liverpool has had a top 5 finish 2 times.
2012/2013
LIVERPOOL TRANSFER LIST…
IN (CLUB PURCHASED OR
“LOANED” FROM):
Nuri Sahin (Real Madrid “Loan”)
Joe Allen (Swansea City)
Oussama Assaidi (Heerenveen)
Fabio Borini
(Roma)
OUT (CLUB
SOLD OR “LOANED” TO)
Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbache)
Fabio Aurelio (Gremio)
David Amoo (Preston
North End)
Stephen Darby (Bradford
City)
Maxi Rodriguez
(Newell's Old Boys)
Alberto Aquilani
(Fiorentina)
Craig Bellamy (Cardiff
City)
Toni Silva (Barnsley)
Lewis Hatch (Accrington
Stanley)
Joe Rafferty (Rochdale)
Connor Wearing
(Shrewsbury)
Entry and Exit Transfer Pick:
Nuri
Sahin
Sahin is a versatile
midfielder that was acquired from Real Madrid though on a temporary basis
(season long loan). According to Wikipedia, on 6 August 2005, Sahin at the age
of 16 years and 334 days became the youngest player to have ever played in the
Bundesliga. Wikipedia also states that on 25 November in the same year he
became the youngest player to score a goal in the Bundesliga. This was in the
colours of Borussia Dortmund against 1. FC Nuremberg.
Sahin was further
instrumental to Borussia Dortmund winning the Bundesliga in the 2010/2011
season. But with his immense contribution to Dortmund, his time in Germany was
cut short by Real Madrid who acquired him prior to the 2011/2012 La Liga
season.
While with the Santigao
Bernabéu club in the 2011/12 season, Sahin played less for the Spanish football
giant and with such limited chances looming in the 2012/2013, Sahin was loaned
out to Liverpool.
No doubt, Nuri Sahin,
the German born Turkish midfielder will have a significant role in Liverpool which
is anticipated to be contributory to the club having a much better season than
the 2011/12 when the Liverpool based club finished the season in 8th place.
Dirk
Kuyt
Dirk Kuyt spent 6 years
in Liverpool F.C. This was from the 2006/07 to the 2011/2012 season. Prior to
joining Liverpool, Kuyt had a sublime goal record for his former club,
Feyenoord.
While at Feyenoord, he
scored 20 goals in 34 matches, 29 goals in 34 matches and 22 goals in 33
matches. These was in the 2003/2004, 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 seasons
respectively. But sequel to his scoring prowess, Kuyt’s 6 years at Liverpool
F.C. was nothing close to his 3 years at Feyenoord.
However, against his scoring
prowess that failed to live up to expectation, Dirk Kuyt was a striker of a
kind that had a remarkable defensive approach to his game, making sublime
tackles when it mattered most to deny opponents from scoring against Liverpool.
Now a Fernerbahçe
player, Dirk Kuyt’s contribution to Liverpool will be greatly missed as he was
a regular with a very impactful presence even though his consistency at getting
the goals was below expectation.
2012
EPL FINAL LEAGUE TABLE PLACEMENT
Having analyzed the 2012 campaign, my projection
with regards to the placement of all Contenders in view is shown in the table
below.
As observed in the table above, Arsenal is expected to
finish the current EPL league on a fly by winning the Premier League. On the
other hand, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool will
finish in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place respectively.
These predicted, please take note that out of the 5
Contenders (teams) used in the English Premier League projection, 4 will make
the top 5 spot which may not necessarily be in the order I project. (You can
have your own order based on your innermost projection and analysis).
To this end, there could be a surprise entry or placement
into the top 5 by a team other than the 5 teams which entails the displacement
of one of the contenders. This further entails that one of the contenders will
be displaced further giving room for the entry of a “not considered” team.
What this means is that the Contenders Rating Scale (CRS) give room for inconsistency
in team performance.
That said, these are my choices and I enjoin you lovers of the
English Premier League to make yours because you never can tell, maybe yours
may be a close touch on the final table outcome.
The 2012/2013 English Premier league, a season to be
addicted to, like never before…
Guess you all agree with me on the Contenders Rating Scale?
*Related works -
THE 2012/13 ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE CONTENDERS RATING SCALE
THE 2012/2013 FRENCH LIGUE 1 CONTENDERS
References:
“Didier Drogba” Wikipedia
22 Sep. 2012 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Drogba>
“Dimitar Berbatov” Wikipedia
9 Sep. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitar_Berbatov>
“Dirk Kuyt” Wikipedia
22 Sep. 2012 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Kuyt>
“Eden Hazard” Wikipedia
21 Sep. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eden_Hazard>
“English Premier League Transfers” Soccerlens 1 Sep. 2012. 23 Sep. 2012
“Jose: Rodgers can't win title with Reds” ESPNFC 23 Sep. 2012. 23 Sep. 2012.
“List of English football champions” Wikipedia 19 Sep. 2012
“Maicon (footballer born 1981)” Wikipedia 22 Sep. 2012.
“Nuri Şahin” ESPNFC 20 Sep. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuri_%C5%9Eahin>
“Premier League Transfer Talk” The Telegraph 20 Sep. 2012. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/2432939/Premier-League-Transfer-Talk-Club-by-club-Football-Transfers-Football-Rumours-.html>
“Robin van Persie” Wikipedia
22 Sep. 2012. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_van_Persie>
“Santi Cazorla” Wikipedia
22 Sep. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santi_Cazorla>
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